Jackson Women's Health Organization

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Jackson Women's Health Organization (abbreviated JWHO) is a women's health clinic located in a bright pink building in Jackson, Mississippi's Fondren neighborhood.[1] It has been the only abortion clinic in Mississippi since the only other one in the state closed in 2006.[2]

The clinic provides multiple reproductive health services, including abortions, birth control and checkups.[3] JWHO is a member of the Nation Abortion Federation which sets compliance standards for abortions to ensure the safety of patients and provide attentive care. The medical staff at JWHO consists of OB/GYNs, licensed nurses, technicians, and counselors.

The JWHO clinic offers their services at an affordable rate for women residing and/or traveling to Mississippi for care.[4] Services are kept at a minimal cost in order to help provide women with care regardless of their financial situations. Women who cannot afford to pay for abortion care can be assisted by The Pink House Fund via donations and other national funding services. [5]

In March 2015, the clinic was severely vandalized, with security cameras destroyed and a generator severely damaged.[6] As of 2016, the clinic's owner was Diane Derzis.[7]

Legal challenges[]

Many Mississippi Republicans (including the governor, Phil Bryant) have attempted to close JWHO with TRAP laws since 2012, when Bryant signed a law requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a local hospital.[8] This was problematic for JWHO, because neither of its two doctors who performed abortions had such privileges.[9] In response to the law, JWHO filed for a restraining order to allow them to remain open temporarily. On Sunday, July 1, 2012, a federal judge granted them this order, preventing the law from being enforced until at least July 11, 2012.[10]

In 2013, Derzis told ABC News that both of JWHO's doctors lived out-of-state and flew in every week to work there.[11] In April 2013, Judge Daniel Porter Jordan III issued a ruling blocking part of the law that would have closed JWHO.[12]

In 2014, a divided panel of judges on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a decision blocking Mississippi from using the law to close JWHO.[13] In a statement accompanying the ruling, Judge E. Grady Jolly wrote that, "Mississippi may not shift its obligation to respect the constitutional rights of its citizen to another state".[14] In 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States refused to review the 2014 decision, thereby allowing it to stand.[15]

In March 2017, a U.S. federal court permanently blocked the state of Mississippi from closing JWHO for noncompliance with the law, while still allowing the law to move forward.[16][17]

Additional cases were filed in March 2018 and December 2019.[18] In a 2018 lawsuit, the plaintiffs attempted to assert that there was a specific period at which the abortion would be wrongful ("Gestational Age Act").[19] This period was determined under the Gestational Age Act as 15 weeks. This was later blocked by United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves and upheld at the Fifth Circuit.

The state challenged the case where it was certified by the U.S. Supreme Court as Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in May 2021, to be heard in the 2021–22 term. Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Organization will be holding oral arguments in court starting on December 1, 2021. [20] On September 20th, 2021, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and 24 medical organizations submitted an amicus brief in support of Jackson's Women's Health Organizations case.[21] They provide support for JWHO by deeming the ban on abortions after 15 weeks as a threat to safe medical care for women.

References[]

  1. ^ Allen, Samantha (2015-03-13). "Working at Pink House, Mississippi's Last Abortion Clinic". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  2. ^ Lockhart, P.R. (2017-05-05). "To understand the cost of the war on women, look to Mississippi". Mother Jones.
  3. ^ Arnold, Amanda (2017-05-04). "A New Threat to Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic Moved in Across the Street". The Cut. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  4. ^ "About Us". Jackson Women's Health Organization. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  5. ^ "Fee Schedule". Jackson Women's Health Organization. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  6. ^ Cohen, David S.; Connon, Krysten (2015-03-25). "Not an Isolated Incident". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  7. ^ Summers Jr., Tim (2016-10-12). "UPDATED: City Agreement Outrages Abortion Clinic Owner, Staff". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  8. ^ Blau, Max (2015-09-28). "Owner of Mississippi's last abortion clinic won't stop fighting for her patients". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  9. ^ Sheppard, Kate (2013-01-22). "Inside Mississippi's Last Abortion Clinic". Mother Jones.
  10. ^ Rich Phillips; George Howell (2012-07-01). "Mississippi's only abortion clinic to stay open under restraining order". CNN. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  11. ^ "72 Hours Inside Mississippi's Lone Abortion Clinic". ABC News. 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  12. ^ Robertson, Campbell (2013-04-15). "Ruling Prevents Closing of Mississippi's Only Abortion Clinic". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  13. ^ Robertson, Campbell; Eckholm, Erik (2014-07-29). "Judges Block Abortion Curb in Mississippi". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  14. ^ Liptak, Adam (2016-06-28). "Justices' Orders Underscore Ruling Against Abortion Limits". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  15. ^ "Supreme Court Refuses to Review Mississippi's Clinic Shutdown Law" (Press release). Center for Reproductive Rights. 2016-06-28.
  16. ^ Regan, Michael (2017-03-18). "Court blocks Mississippi law that would have shuttered state's only abortion clinic". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
  17. ^ "Federal District Court Permanently Blocks Mississippi's Clinic Shutdown Law" (Press release). Center for Reproductive Rights. 2017-03-17.
  18. ^ "Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Dobbs, No. 18-60868 (5th Cir. 2019)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  19. ^ "Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Currier [15-week ban]". Rewire.News. Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  20. ^ "Jackson Women's Health Organization v. Dobbs". Center for Reproductive Rights. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  21. ^ "ACOG Leads Groundbreaking Coalition in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization". www.acog.org. Retrieved 2021-10-25.

External links[]


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